Which? slams Ryanair currency exchange rate for UK customers

The Mirror — Like most airlines, Ryanair automatically prices fares to match the currency of the departure airport, most commonly in Euros.

An investigation by consumer group Which? found that when the budget carrier is converting payments into sterling is using a poor exchange rate, worse than that of banks or credit card companies.

The watchdog found that for example a family of four travelling from Thessaloniki to Stansted on March 5th cost £813.56 when converted from € Euros to £ Sterling by Ryanair.

But paying in Euros with a Visa card meant the flights were only £771.13 – a saving of £42.43.

The same was true of other currencies. Booking return flights from Marrakech to London sold in Moroccan dirham, Ryanair’s exchange rate priced the seats at £381.05 where Visa would have charged £360.01.

It is not the first time Ryanair has been criticised for its currency converting after it came under fire for using a £1/€1 rate for extras such as hold luggage and seat reservations, which means UK travellers pay more.

Like most airlines, the Irish firm automatically prices fares to match the currency of the departure airport, most commonly in Euros.

The same was true of other currencies. Booking return flights from Marrakech to London sold in Moroccan dirham, using Ryanair’s exchange rate priced the seats at £381.05 where Visa would have charged £360.01.

It is not the first time Ryanair has been criticised for its currency converting after it came under fire for using a £1/€1 rate for extras such as hold luggage and seat reservations, which means UK travellers pay more.

Rory Boland, Which? Travel Editor, said: “Don’t accept Ryanair’s offer to convert your payment. If you have to pay in euros, it’s better to let your bank, rather than your airline, make the conversion to pounds.”

Ryanair denied it is a sharp practice and said it “complies with EU and national laws on consumer protection”.

Which? said it was concerned Ryanair was in breach of consumer protection legislation and had written to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), adding that neither BA, EasyJet or Jet2 “encourage customers to choose an almost certainly worse rate”.